The U.S. Open, short for United States Open Championships, is an annual international tennis tournament that spans two weeks in late August and early September. It is the fourth in a series of tennis tournaments consisting of the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Collectively, these four major championships can be referred to as Grand Slam tournaments. This year the prize money for the U.S. Open was at a whopping 65 million dollars. Of this total, three million went to the winners of the singles competitions.
At the 2023 U.S. Open, nineteen-year-old Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion. Gauff struggled in the first of three sets and suffered a loss of 2-6. After losing the opening set, she turned it around and led her way to victory in the following two with scores of 6-3 and 6-2. For the final point, Gauff sprinted across the court to return a volley from Sabalenka to hit a powerful backhand that Sablanka failed to volley back. Immediately after her victory, Gauff collapsed on the floor in tears, covering her face in her hands in ecstatic joy. Gauff, once a little kid cheering in the stands and looking up at this prestigious event, became the U.S. Open champion.
Varsity tennis player Sophie Kempe reflects on Gauff’s new title, “I fully believe she deserved to win. She has won other titles in the past, and it was only a matter of time before she won her first grand slam.” She also expresses her admiration for the young champion’s “maturity and sportsmanship” that she observed at the U.S. Open qualifiers match. These traits are desirable in any professional athlete, so it is refreshing to see a rising star in the sport embody them.
In an interview after Gauff’s win, she delivered a speech highlighting her mindset during the game of giving it her all and trusting that the results would align. The tennis champ thanked everyone who helped her get to this point—-including her dad, whom she had recalled having never seen cry until that moment. Gauff reported that she stopped paying attention to and holding herself to the expectations of her haters on social media. Instead, she turned her focus toward the expectations and goals she had for herself. This shift in attitude is what helped guide her to victory.
